Red Flax And Wallflowers
by The Black Moon
Summary: AU. Companion fic to 'O.R.R.A.L.L.' Inuyasha and his brother move into a rundown apartment complex , and have multiple conflicts with their new flatmates, jobs, classmates, and as always, eachother. Canon pairings.
1. Prelude

Author's notes: A _whole_ lot of thought went into this title. So did a lot a research that resulted in an hour or two looking up flowers and flower meanings, the meaning of the colour of the flower, etc. Very tiresome. Then I had to do all this combining notes on it… But I found a nice title, and that's what matters. Well, I don't know if you guys like it or not, but… oh well. I like it.

What it means? The Red Flax is a flower symbolizing gratitude, a way of saying 'I'm thankful for all your kindness.' The Wallflower symbolizes constancy, if you give a Wallflower to someone you love, it's basically saying 'Through all the obstacles we come across, I'll be there for you through thick and thin.' For some odd reason or another, I think it just kind of reminds me of Inuyasha and Kagome. Which is why I had to find two flowers in the first place.

Not a whole lot of explaining needs to be done here, since this is a prelude, no main character attributes are going to be given away this early in the story. Next chapter, the real introduction, a good number of those things will be presented to you. The only other thing I need to mention is that this is a companion fic to my most recent one, **'Of Ragged Roses, And Listless Lilies.'** And a good and fair deal of the events in this story will make as much sense as this story's title without my explanation if you read this without reading that one. But whatever floats your boat.

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* * *

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Red Flax And Wallflowers-

_**Prelude: **_

The boy cocked his head to one side, and then lolled it slowly to the other. His amber eyes squinted as he attempted to envision the final out come in his mind. Abnormal ears atop his head flattened to the likeness of a discouraged dog, blending in well with his silver hair. Finally, he just sat down cross-legged on the floor and growled at the offending objects across from him.

A voice arose behind him in the doorway, sounding immensely un-amused. "What are you doing?" The sound of footsteps carried their way over to the strange youth, a firm hand pulled his head back to have Inuyasha meet with a pair of narrow eyes exceedingly similar to his own. "I told you to hurry and finish packing."

"But… That box… is evil."

The older of the two raised an eyebrow.

"It won't let me fit everything in it, how am I supposed to finish packing if it won't let me?"

Roughly releasing his hold on his younger brother's hair, Sesshoumaru stood straight and turned to walk back through the doorway. "I wouldn't expect you to know what 'organization' is."

"There's not a snowball's chance in _Hell_ that I'm about to re-pack all that shit in there because that damned **box** is defective."

"We're leaving in the truck within the hour. I suggest you and your box friend figure something out." With that said, the elder of the two walked out the doorway, hauling off three more boxes to the moving truck.

"That ass wipe… Just pissed we're moving to the fucking shittiest part of town… I'll shove some box friend…"

"I heard that, Inuyasha."

"…Bastard." He mumbled.

Eventually, he gave up on all else and crammed the antique in with the other mess in the box and punched it down to where it was tape-able. _I'll just blame all the broken stuff in there on the truck driver. _

Carrying it out the front door to the estate, he took one last look at the modest house before climbing into the back seat of the truck, behind both the driver and his brother.

It was just a place he lived at for a while, to him, and it didn't hold too many good memories anyways. It was just a pile of bricks. There was nothing to regret in moving away, he thought, except that they were moving to the 'fucking shittiest place in town,' as he so eloquently put it.

It was just… there.

* * *

Author's notes: His brother's not abusive, just to clear something up right now, it's just that harsh sibling rivalry that plays into the original story. And the reason they're moving will be brought up later.

Yes, I recycled that last line, but for a reason. Please review.

_Be well._


	2. The Move In

Author's notes: Ah… Sorry that it took so long, I've been busy. This chapter is going to fill in some of the blanks that will be left from both the last chapter of this one, and the sudden skip in some of the events in ORALL. (It doesn't skip that far ahead, it just goes to the next day in the latter, so don't worry.) This chapter is going to be fairly long, covering the drive, the move in, in-between goings on from the sister's absence in certain parts of the chapter (in the companion fic, ORALL), and what goes on afterwards, from Inu-kun's and his bro's perspectives… I guess. Also, subplots. Subplots are wonderful.

HEDGEHOGMADHATTER: Thank you, I appreciate it. By the way, I like your titles. Hope you stick around for a while, be well!

Still not a whole lot of explaining to do here, so… on with the chapter!

* * *

The truck was old, and worn out, and it hit the road flaws hard, jerking its passengers and their belongings around endlessly. The A/C and heater was broken, and with the harsh, cold wind seeping through cracks in the windows and door spaces, it whipped at their skin mercilessly. To top it all off, it was silent; save for the incessant buzz of the radio.

Inuyasha gripped his jacket around himself tighter; cursing both it's stuck-zipper, and his icy brother, for keeping it quiet. The window was smudged and cracked horribly, so he couldn't entertain himself with the surroundings (which wouldn't have provided much entertainment as it was) with out providing himself with a headache. _Damn it…_

Already in a foul mood, every single little detail was an immense annoyance, like the clacking of the keys against the ignition, the driver's endless smacking of his (now over-sized) piece of gum, the radio spitting out inaudible racket, or the little fly away hairs that got themselves into his face (courtesy of the wind). Shoving his cap as close to his head as possible, he attempted in vain to shut out at least some of the noise. He was surprised to note that his brother hadn't ripped the radio out of its socket or clawed out the driver, but then, Sesshoumaru was stone-hard tight-ass; a block of ice that took an enormous amount of pressure to even crack. So maybe he wasn't so surprised at him after all.

He narrowed his eyes, struggling with himself not to bash something in. He clenched his teeth and ground them together, narrowing his eyes at the two in front.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion, when, as if on cue, they hit another pothole. The truck sputtered for a moment, shaking and jittering everything and everyone inside of it. The unmistakable stench of gasoline and burnt metal filled the vehicle, and a light, green-yellow smoke arose from beneath the hood.

Inuyasha watched in near disbelief as he felt the quake and irregular motion of the truck as it leaned to one side, and gradually, with what little power it had left, pulled over to the side of the highway. _Oh hell no._

The driver looked out the rear-view mirror, checking for problems out back or on-coming cars, and pushed open the door, climbed out of the moving truck and hurried himself to the hood. Pulling his gloves on quickly, he carefully lifted it up and raised the holder. Smoke and steam billowed out, hot and carrying a horrendous smell. "Shit…" He waved his hand around in front of his face, and spit out the wad of gum he'd been chewing for the past half-hour.

* * *

It took the roadside assistance crew around twenty or so minutes to get out to them, since it was mid-morning and the traffic wasn't bad, but it honestly felt like an eternity. When they finally arrived, the dog-eared youth was on the brink of insanity. They could not do much for the U-haul except give the battery a jolt and tow the trailer end to their destination, to lighten the load.

The tow truck drove on ahead with the trailer, leaving the other three to get there on their own time. The ignition fought back for a minute or two, but eventually agreed with the command and started again.

And so Inuyasha was once again left off with what he had been with for the past hour or so, minus the gum smacking and the boxes banging around behind him, so he was grateful for that at least. Until the driver pulled out another stick of gum. And promptly spit it out the window because it had been contaminated with the thick taste of the gasoline fumes.

* * *

At noon, when they arrived to the immediate neighborhood in which they were to move into, Inuyasha glanced amusedly at Sesshoumaru's exasperated expression, which was followed by him rubbing his temples a bit and closing his eyes. It was quiet, but he heard a sigh escape him, and a low growl. Smirking, he took it up as one of those perfect chances to irritate his older brother straight to hell.

"Homey, in' nit? Just look at all the bright experiences out there, waiting to be taken! See, I can go right down there and buy some crack for a couple dollars, while back at the old dump, coke only costs fifty cents; bargain! And hey, I bet _one_ of those girls'll go out with you if you pay them enough…" He pointed out the window to the corner, highlighting two or three prostitutes smoking by a well-dressed young man.

The driver snickered, and Inuyasha found himself with a bruise on his head a moment later.

They pulled into the apartment complex, at last, and wasted no time in locating the U-haul trailer with their belongings. They drove up to the main gate, which was in terrible condition, and picked up their key and pass card.

Sesshoumaru read off the flat and apartment letter. "2-5, G."

Inuyasha sounded off in the backseat again. "G for 'Ghetto?'"

"Do I need to hit you again?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Shaking his head good-naturedly, the driver once again climbed out of the truck and went to unlock the U-haul trailer. Pleased that nothing appeared to have been stolen, he went about piling boxes and light furniture out of it.

After his brother filed out of the front seat as well, Inuyasha combated with the back door (apparently, in intense heat or cold weather, it just about fuses itself to the truck.) until he gave up and kicked it out of place.

"Hey, kid, watch it!"

"Yeah, yeah… 'S not like it's not gonna last much longer anyway…" He thrust it back in its proper position with his hands, pressing hard against the frosted metal. "Keh, see? All better."

Cracking his knuckles, he picked up a fair sized box, making sure that the driver got the one that was crudely shaped and rushed-looking, a.k.a. the one he had battled with earlier that morning, before hopping into the U-haul from hell. _Sucker…_

Upon walking up the stairs to the upper flat, he gazed over the top of the box at a neighboring window to see a pair of red, bloodshot eyes glaring intensely at him through the tattered, filthy blinds. _Oookaaaay…So much for the welcome committee._ Instincts telling him not to draw any more unwanted attention than he honestly wanted at that point, he averted his eyes to the apartment next to him, which looked as though it housed a sane enough person inside of it; seeing as the welcome mat actually read off: 'welcome.'

He set the box down and unlocked the door that was marked with a paint-chipped 'G,' on opening it he was greeted with a cold, musty air that somehow seemed almost comforting. He picked the box up, noted the scribble on it that indicated it was meant for the living room, and set it down in what… appeared to be a room that had been lived in. Feeling tired and lazy, he decided to call it quits for a while and set himself about 'exploring' the apartment.

Every room had what seemed to be a very unhealthy amount of dust piled up on the walls and windows, the like. The view out the back porch was decent, it overlooked the city nicely, and it was distant enough to where the night-lights probably wouldn't keep him awake at in-human hours of the night, no matter how much of a night owl he was.

There were two bedrooms, and he was NOT going to take the one that smelled like it had some kind of mildew growing on the walls; let that be the 'ice-prince's' problem for now.

The cold air blowing through was beginning to get to him, and he had no doubt that with the sound and weight of the footsteps coming upstairs from outside, he was going to need a damn good explanation for not helping carrying up the furniture. Finding the control panel, he pretended to take a long time finding the right switches to activate the central heating unit, pressing it only when he felt the chilling eyes of his brother burning a hole through the back of his head. "_There_ it is."

He felt a light whack at top of his skull, and turned the thermostat up to a number that looked like it could be seventy-five then walked back out the door to help with the rest of the load.

It was a long, uphill battle getting the major furniture up the stairs, through the doorway, and into their proper places. All the while, Inuyasha felt the same, disturbing red eyes blazing at him and the other two, sending chills up his spine. The air it gave off was so incredibly unnerving that he eventually convinced the driver and his brother to take a break inside the apartment for a while, hoping that whoever that it was would have gone away by the time they got back outside, but it was to no avail.

* * *

They started back out roughly about four-o-clock, and when Inuyasha was carrying up another box, he (literally) bumped into a young woman whom was walking out her front door.

"Oh, excuse me, I should have been watching my step."

Taking a light notice that she was the one inhabiting the 'normal' looking apartment beside him, he decided that it might be a good thing to make nice with her here and now. "It's no big deal. What's your name?"

"Shogami, Kikyou."

He grinned a little, and shrugged off his own.

Pulling her long black hair over her shoulder, she gripped her tote bag around her arm and made a slight gesture with a pale, but gentle hand. "It's been nice meeting you, Inuyasha, but I'm afraid that I must go; I'll speak to you later."

"Sure."

She walked off down the stairs, high heels clinking on the stone and metal rims of the steps until they gradually faded into nothing.

Once again feeling that spidery presence of the watching 'window-eyes' (as he now dubbed them), he walked into his own apartment and laid the box down in 'his' room. _Well, at least she seems normal. Not like that psycho-whatsit over there. _

"Made a new friend?" Sesshoumaru's voice came from the doorway.

He shrugged again, something that had become somewhat habitual over the years, and stood back up, knowing all-too-well that his brother was implying to get back to work.

* * *

It was dark out, now, nearly nine-o-clock in the evening. Hot-dogs and room-temperature sodas had served for dinner, and the baseball capped boy was back at the U-haul trailer for what would be the last time during the move-in, and he couldn't be happier about that. Launching the last box up on his shoulder, he balanced it with one arm while using the other to shut the pull-down back to the trailer.

Walking back up, he sensed two forms rushing past him. Whipping his head around, he was confronted with the sight of two girls running up the steps to the flat he, that girl from earlier, and the window-watcher were stationed (along with some others whom he hadn't met yet).

One was taller, in her late teens or early twenties (from what he could tell), the other was very small, and so she was either a child or a midget. The porch lights were dim, and he was a little ways away, so he couldn't get all the details or aspects of either or them yet, but he was interested to find that they were going into the psycho's apartment.

Brushing off the notion of something ominous brewing, he continued to make his way towards his and his brother's 'home' as though nothing had happened.

When he got to the layer, he distinguished a fair amount of yelling, but was compelled to mind his own business and be pleased that he was no longer being watched by those creepy red orbs.

It was then that he heard a loud, definite smacking noise, followed by a thud. It was carried up by another slapping sound, a feminine voice, groaning in pain, and another sort of assaulting clamor, another, and yet more. Concerned, he started pounding on the door, "Hello? Is everyone alright in there?" When no one answered, he continued his knocking. "Hello?"

He proceeded to perform this tirade on the front door for at least a good fifteen minutes, and when he still got no answer, he went up to the window, and strained to see through smoke stains and the tattered blinds. He could make out a young, ebony haired girl, a year or two older than he, propped up against a wall, slouching, but she seemed to be well enough not to need severe medical attention. The younger one was unhealthily pale, with her knees curled up to her chin, bruises here or there, but not as bad off as the elder. He could see a tall, masculine form slinking around in the hallways, retreating off somewhere.

Seeing that the people inside were beyond his help and not very much in need of it at the time, and most certainly not wanting to re-possess that weirdo's attention, Inuyasha pulled away from the window, and went into his own apartment, but staying alert in case something else happened.

The driver was preparing to leave, searching about the house for the misplaced car keys. It took him long enough, and both of the brothers had become suspicious of him to merely be pretending to have lost them, so he could have just stayed the night. Whatever his motives or whether or not he had truthfully misplaced them, a clawed hand picked them up off of the kitchen counter and threw them at the man's head. Sesshoumaru had made his final point. And the driver would be wise not to gainsay it.

Since neither the driver nor his brother let on any sort of indication that they had heard any of the commotion next door, Inuyasha kept the information to himself, and figured that that type of thing was bound to be considered typical in that area, and let it settle itself for the time being.

* * *

After he had reconstructed his bed, the only thing on his mind was 'sleep.' _I've been up since the ass crack of dawn. I went into that monster called a moving truck. I've loaded and unloaded the goddamn thing and carried shit loads upstairs. It's two a.m. in the morning. I. Am. Going. To. Sleep. _

And that was that.

* * *

Author's notes: No, this is NOT a Kikyou and Inuyasha pairing. The only person he's being paired with in this story is Kagome. No, Kikyou does not get bashing. The only one that's getting any hate is ol' spider eyes: Naraku. Next chapter will take place a bit at Inu-kun's high school. No, this is NOT a high school fic. Only about 1/5 of the entire story takes place at a school, and sometimes, that's Kikyou's medical school.

The age for the current main characters in this story (so far, I'm definitely adding more people later).

Inuyasha: 15

Sesshoumaru: 19

Kagome: 15

Kikyou: 18

Naraku: Probably around 34.

Miroku: 18

Sango: 16

Kouga: 15

Kagura: 17

Kanna: 10

As I said, there will be more (many more) later on. Most of these ages go by what is said in the character book. Please review!

Be well.


	3. Brownout and McDonald's pt1

Author's notes: Don't know why I haven't updated ORALL in a while… I'll get to it soon. By the way, about the sudden, major weather change in this chapter from the previous one, ask anyone living in Northeast Texas. It seriously does this. In the beginning of October this year, around the second, it was exactly 108 f. on the highway, and the next day it was in the low forties. Also, just a note, the move last time was loosely based off of my father's in the middle of September, when it was incredibly hot out. I wasn't present for the actual moving of furniture, but I was there for some other not-so-pleasant activities.

Yes, actually, we did move into an apartment 'G.' it's my father's joke that it stands for 'ghetto.' I was the one threatening him about the excessive mockery of it, though. Enough of my prattle.

HEDGEHOGMADHATTER: Thanks; again, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. (By the way, I love your fics!)

DARCIA PLUSHIE: Thanks! (Your fics are great, too!)

* * *

It was hot. Burning, scorching, inhumanely hot. It felt like the world had caught on fire sometime during the ten or so hours he'd been asleep.

The silver-haired, winter-clad boy ripped off the orange sheets to his bed and thrashed about for a moment before untangling his foot from them. Bare feet pounding on the hollow floor, he sprinted down the hallway to the thermostat. Noting that the temperature wouldn't read on the dial, he repeatedly poked the power button. When that failed, he resorted to the only rational thing his brain could conjure at the time: He proceeded to beat the shit out of it.

Frantically, having worked up an enormous sweat, he rushed over to the sink and prepared himself to feel a steady flood of icy water flow into the glass. But it was in vain. _Why do you hate me? _

The stony, yet irritated voice of his brother behind him confirmed Inuyasha's fears.

"The power is out, Inuyasha. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out."

Yes, this definitely confirmed it: He'd woken up in hell.

Doing his absolute best to ignore the incredible urge to strangle Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha left the kitchen to return to his newly dubbed room.

The boxes were still piled on top of one another, each labeled 'bdrm2,' and one of them contained some hastily thrown in summer clothes. He just hoped to high heaven that it was one of the first ones he looked in.

But of course, he had no such luck.

Twenty minutes, and eight boxes later, he emerged from his room dressed in a dark red tank top and black shorts.

The windows and doors were all open, so as to vent in a breeze, and from the looks of it, the power outage was not exclusive to their apartment. The neighbors (or at least the majority of what he could now see) had all their own methods and solutions to the ordeal; apparently, this type of thing was something that most of them seemed to be accustomed to. Having pulled up the blinds on the kitchen window, he stuck his head out in boredom and mild curiosity.

Three doors down, there was a young, tough looking little boy playing some form of imaginary battle with another, less harsh looking boy. Their 'swords' hit against the other, twigs or splinters flying off and hitting their sweaty hands and faces, it was surprising that they didn't collapse from heat exhaustion.

Beside him, the kindly young woman he'd briefly met the day before, Kikyou had set a damp towel out beneath her knees as she knelt down in her open doorway, mixing herbs in a bowl, a medical book outlaid on the concrete beside her. Had she not been so engrossed in her task, he might have attempted a conversation with her.

Across from him, the 'psycho's' apartment, the door was open, mostly; shadows from inside stood still and silent, but he could still hear someone yelling at someone else from further back. A few moments later, the same blood red eyes made their home in the window and focused themselves intently on the task-ridden Kikyou.

Averting his attention elsewhere, Inuyasha watched a rather effeminate looking little boy and a tomboy-ish girl approach the two 'sword fighters' and enter the play with them.

He gazed at the lot of them go at it for a while, and nodded his attention back to the doorway in front of him to find the same unhealthily pale little girl sprawled out immediately behind it, letting a tepid breeze waft over her; he couldn't help but wonder if she was half-dead, though logic said she certainly wasn't.

The menacing pair of eyes had fled from the window, and having heard a brief word-battle once again beyond his sight, he observed the older of the two, who he'd seen battered the night prior, walk towards the open door. She balked her exit, halting to raise a brow at the younger.

"Dead, huh?"

"…"

"Are you coming?"

At this, the once motionless and vacant child let her eyes widen a bit, and she stood slowly to her feet, left to disappear in the heavy shadows behind the tattered doorway, returning promptly with sandal-clad feet and a torn up back pack. Without a need to nod her head or speak any reply at all, the two of them set out from the flat, shoes clacking unmelodic and sharply against the scorching gravel of the stairs.

Paying no further heed to the goings on outside, Inuyasha seemed vaguely inspired to go somewhere himself, anywhere to get out from the hellhole that was currently the apartment complex.

* * *

The Sun burned down on him with out mercy, but somehow, he'd managed to both escape angry and heat-agitated 'citizens' _and_ make it inside a half-decent facility… one with much needed food and beverage.

There was hardly a line at this time of day, even though it was Saturday and around noon. Inuyasha stood behind two or three people at the McDonald's register, waiting slightly impatiently for the other customers to finish their orders.

Someone had begun a mild argument with the cashier, who's irritated and exhausted voice seemed a bit familiar. Tapping his foot intentionally loudly, he caught the toe of his shoe sole on the heel of a leather sandal. The girl in front of him turned around to face him with a vague look on her face.

Her voice was calm, but she sounded somewhat confused. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, sorry…" He remained irritated towards whoever it was that was in front of them, but tried not to let it seep through his generally sincere apology. He frowned a little. "It's just…" He gestured towards the offending customer.

"Don't worry about it; he comes here a lot, and almost always gets into some kind of fight with her… it wouldn't be the first time he's made people behind him upset."

"I'll have to make a mental note not to come here when they're not around…"

Her navy eyes softened from their minor scowl, "Oh, no; they are normally not that hot headed, at least not usually when the other isn't there… They'll never get along…"

"So why the hell does Mr. Jackass have to prance himself over here all the time"

She seemed thoughtful for a moment, "He probably doesn't realize that he's doing it; if he does, then he likely just takes pleasure in making everyone wait behind him or something."

"Wouldn't surprise me either way… he seems kind of dimwitted to be fighting about… what is it that they're fighting over?"

"Knowing Kouga, it's almost definitely got to do with the price of the drinks or that something isn't free…"

"You know each other…?"

"Kind of; we go to the same school."

"What school's that?" Not knowing whether or not he'd be pleased if it was the same one he would be attending, he decided to chance seeing a familiar, pleasant face in classes.

"Oh, a stalker!" Jokingly, she covered her mouth and mock gasped. "Cleavers."

So he would be seeing her… and unfortunately, the one she called Kouga. "That's where I'll be going."

"Really? I'll be glad to show you around, if you want… umm…?"

"Inuyasha."

"That's a nice name… I'm Kagome, nice to meet you."

"You too." Personally, he thought it quite odd that they'd acknowledge the fact that they'd met so long after the conversation had begun, but it was a cardinal rule, or something like that… it's just how things were done, he supposed.

Regaining some mild focus on the unending battle at the counter, they finally found some relief when the manager confronted them both and sent the customer on his way. Kagome offered Inuyasha a seat when he finished ordering, with which he gladly complied. Upon reaching the register at long last, he found the cashier to be none other than the girl that lived across from him.

_That would be why she sounded familiar._

Walking over to where his new friend was nibbling on a salad, he placed his tray on the table; he asked if she came there often.

"Err… I guess so; it's close to home and school, and I know some people who work here, so yeah… why?"

"Curious, I guess."

"I've been a little curious myself… Is that your natural hair colour, or…?"

Having become slightly accustomed to strange glances and outright stares all his life, he grinned inwardly at this. "I was born like this, yeah."

"That's a pretty rare colour, I've only seen it on one or two other people. It looks nice, though."

He was prepared for something more rude, or disbelief. This was a pleasant change. He had to wonder how she'd react if he didn't have his hat, however. "Thanks; it's genetic, from my father."

She smiled. "Do you get along?"

"With who?"

"…Your father."

"…Oh… Well, it's hard to say yes or no; I never really knew him…"

"Oh. Sorry. If it helps, I never really knew my father either…"

"It's okay; sorry you and your old man had the samefate as us."

"S'okay…"

An awkward silence grew between them, Kagome eventually broke it by saying she had to get back to her house.

"I'll see you on Monday, or if you want, I'll meet you here again tomorrow…?"

"That'll be nice."

"Okay, at noon, then."

"All right."

She walked out the door, and noting that he didn't at all much feel like going back until the sun went down, he stayed at the table and stared at his now cold French fries.

He walked over to the side of the counter to get a few packets of ketchup, and on his way back, he noticed someone sitting quietly at the back of the eating area, scribbling something on a piece of paper…or napkin. The fact that this was the same albino looking child that he'd seen tagging along with the cashier (who, thanks to the name tag, he'd now learned to call Kagura) confirmed what he'd already known.

Looking to the clock, he was immensely pleased that time had gone faster than he thought it had, as it was now three in the afternoon, but was crestfallen at the notion that he'd have to be there for much longer to wait out the heat.

* * *

Inuyasha had passed the time somehow, he wasn't really sure how he had managed, by making another order and taking up a conversation with various McDonald's employees on their breaks. At one point, he'd even tried to talk to the little girl in the back corner, at last wringing out of her when she and Kagura would be leaving.

Which turned out to be not such a bad time to leave. Eight o' clock was an hour or something's way off, making it an eternity for him, but he would endure it if it meant the peace of mind knowing that the Sun would be absent.

* * *

Notes: I know this seems short and cut off, but that's because it is. Two-parter… I'm too tired to go on right now… it's four in the morning. TT And yes, I suppose that I LIED about the HS being in this chapter, but hey: It. Got. MENTION. Right?

Reviews are appreciated, I'll be back… sometime in January. Or who knows, tomorrow…?

Hope you have nice holidays (or HAD, rather), and a great new years!


	4. Brownout pt 2

Author's notes: Where did the time go? A lot's happened, yes. If you can picture my utter face plant to the keyboard when I realized that it'd been two months since I last updated, well… You know exactly what I did then. Uh-huh. Okay, enough of that.

In the news of my pathetic life: More misadventures in our apartment letter 'G' have occurred. I'm now home schooled. I've just gotten a second dog (yesterday). I've been doing most of my ramblingsat my livejournal, and the link to that will be posted in my bio soon. So if you want to know why the hell I haven't been updating, more or less, it's going to be up there.

TO THE REVIEWERS: THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Now. On to part two. (This isn't as Inu-kun centric as the last chapter, since our companion fic is going to be focusing on that half of the story. Yay for side-characters that I haven't introduced until now.)

* * *

A sweaty, greasy hand reached for the can of soda. The girl sat down the wrench she'd been holding and relaxed at the cool feeling of refreshment sliding down her throat. 

The metallic scent in the air would have been nearly repulsive to anyone who hadn't grown extensively used to it, as it carried the stench of grime and wasting mechanic oil. It wafted through the room, like the vague sound of metal clanging and rock music in the background.

It was insanely hot outside, and inside, as well at the time. Brownouts plagued that part of the city often enough, at least when it was at peak weather. However, even though it happened at such a pace, one never quite gets used to it. Like an electric jolt, you're hardly ever ready for it.

The girl cranked the bolts out from the device, struggling in a vain attempt to recharge the power in the workshop by means of the control panel. Which, thus far being three hours, had not yet succeeded.

Unfortunately for her and her fellow mechanics, the majority of the tools in that workshop were electrical; not that there weren't any manual tools, but they didn't work as well.

The flimsy tin roof did very little to shade anyone from the cruel sun, at times it seemed more as though it was a great oven, baking them all.

She sighed, having failed at her last attempt, wiping her forehead thoroughly with a grease-stained rag.

Sango was not one to give up easily, and would be the first to spend vast amounts of time trying to defy any number of odds as best as she could. However, her patience was not infinite, as she was well known for having a mighty temper.

"Damnit… Well, I tried…" She twisted her mouth into a displeased expression at the side of her face. Groaning, she slid up off of her knees, hearing her muscles creak from moving after so long a time. "…I need to work out more."

Slinging the rag over her shoulder, and crunching the soda can in the other; she took a last look out from the now darkening garage door before shutting it and walking out of the workshop for the day.

_

* * *

That damnable repairman isn't here. I called him hours ago. "These people…" Tapping his foot in a precise manner, Sesshoumaru abandoned his post by the window and began pacing around the humid room in resentment to the fact that it was both humid and repairman-less. _

Feeling an unwanted pair of eyes on him, he stopped at the kitchen window and stole a glance through the blinds. Across the concrete walkway from his and his brother's apartment he found two disgustingly red eyes glaring in his direction.

_What is…_

* * *

The clinic had been especially busy that day, Kikyou and the other participating medical students had spent it tending to an excess of heat stroke victims, those who suffered from immense dehydration, and the like. 

She'd had a hunch earlier in the morning that this sort of thing would happen, so she had made a sizable mixture of a cooling ointment out of some Aloe Vera and Echinacea leaves, with a small number of other herbs.

Most people might've found it eerie to walk down a dirtily white hallway, hearing little else besides your own echo of shoe soles clink repetitively behind you. To Kikyou, it was calming, almost soothing.

At the end of the day, what she wanted most was solitude; the comfort of knowing that all you have to worry about is yourself, no one else. At the end of the day, as she walked out of the slightly unsanitary clinic, she usually felt as though an enormous weight had been taken off of her shoulders. No one's life depended on her choices, for the most part, anyways. She did enjoy helping people, greatly, she did, but it was still nice to know that _she_ was all right, too.

* * *

It blinked. 

It was just a streetlight, but it blinked.

Slowly, the blinking became a regular movement in the bulb, and it sent a chain reaction to the rest of the street.

Looking up in raised hopes, Inuyasha felt more thankful than he had in a while. Which, when he thought about it, was fairly ridiculous; being thankful for a recharge in power.

Nevertheless, at the moment, foolishness didn't matter so much. The cool night air would have been enough to raise his spirits a bit further; though this certainly wasn't something he'd complain about.

Watching the children being called in from the streets he passed, he felt a twinge of envy. Not sure where it came from, or even why he felt it, he chose to ignore it.

* * *

As he walked up the steps to his apartment, he listened to the door across from his own, for that weirdo's yelling or whatever. It didn't come.

* * *

Inside his room, with a full stomach he had passed on dinner, a crashing window disrupted his gratefulness. 

He rushed out, fists in position to defend himself, but only heard the voice of his brother in the kitchen.

"What the hell?"

"What happened?"

Though, when he arrived in the kitchen, Inuyasha found that a question wasn't honestly necessary.

Amongst the shards of broken window glass all over the floor was a wrinkled, filthy note tied onto a relic of sorts.

The relic, which resembled a voodoo doll, was tossed out for caution.

The note, when they managed to read the chicken scrawl that appeared to be writing read:

_Fuck off. _

"Simple, but it gets the message through…"

"Would you silence yourself for once, Inuyasha?"

"No."

Feeling the urge to roll his eyes up into his head, Sesshoumaru merely fisted his brother on the head.

"Damn it!"

"Be quiet."

Rubbing his head and glancing at the broken glass on the floor, Inuyasha had his suspicions of where it had come from.

_Is that the game, huh?_

* * *

Author's notes: Umm… yes, it's short. Too bad. I've already started on the ORALL chapter, so that'll be up in a few days or so. 

I hope you all have had some nice holidays, had a good start to the new year, and will continue to both read and review (sorry for the lack of updating).

Be well!


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